Parents and teachers in Longreach and the Central West will have the opportunity of attending a forum on the planned introduction of computer coding studies from Prep to year 12 in Queensland schools, but over 30 schools on the Central Highlands have been snubbed.
The only forum to be held in Gregory, an electorate covering one-fifth of Queensland’s landmass, will held at the Longreach State School on Thursday November 26 from 7 am to 8.30am. Attendees need to RSVP by visiting the website at www.advancingeducation.qld.gov.au.
Member for Gregory Lachlan Millar urged as many parents as possible to have a say by either attending the forum, downloading the discussion paper or completing the on-line survey.
“I am bitterly disappointed that there will be no forum on the eastern side of Gregory. Gregory has 57 schools and is a major education hub. I know parents and teachers have a strong interest in this,” he said.
“Even jobs in our traditional employment sectors of agriculture and mining are likely to be highly computerised in the not too distant future and virtually every sector of the economy from small to large business will be changed,” said Mr Millar.
“The introduction of coding studies is an important step towards ensuring our children have the skills they need for future employment. We must ensure that regional and rural children are not left behind. They must have the same access as their counterparts on the coast,” said Mr Millar.
“There will be issues around staff training and staffing levels, there will be issues about access to data capacity and there will be issues around hardware. The Minister needs to deliver a robust model that will work for both city and rural children,” he said.
“We need to turn our thinking around and instead of designing the delivery of new education modules to suit the city, and then trying to patch them up to cover the country, we should design them to work in regional Queensland first-up. If they work in Gregory, they will work anywhere in Queensland, city or country,” he said.